US coffee roastings rise:

For the week ended October 17, 1998, US coffee roastings totalled approximately 400,000 60-kg bags, up from 325,000 theprevious week, and compared with 330,000 bags in the corresponding week one year ago. Cumulative roastings totalled 13,605,000 60-kg bags, versus 13,585,000 bags in the same year ago period.

China rubber imports down: China imported 300,000 tonnes of natural rubber, including latex, in the first nine months of 1998, down 8.7 percent from the year-ago period, according to customs figures made available last week.

Typhoon hits Philippine coconut trees: Coconut plantations destroyed by Typhoon Babs' rampage across the Philippines last week might take three or more years to recover, industry analysts and officials said. Babs, which killed at least 163 people, whipped Bicolregion in the southern tip of the country's main Luzon island before ripping through rice-growing areas in northern provinces. It also lashed parts of central Visayas region in its three-day March across the Philippines, the world's largest exporter of coconut oil. Luzon, including the key Bicol region, and the Visayas islandsaccount for up to 40 per cent of total production. Babs left the country on Saturday and now threatens Taiwan and China's coastal provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, but its impact on Philippine coconut production was unclear. "We still have to get the overall assessment of damage. But definitely this will affect the overall outlook for 1999," one trader said. Another said: "Bicol was heavily damaged... It will have an effect on production but as to how much, we do not know yet."

Tobacco firms to employ spies: Tobacco companies were said to employ spies to infiltrate anti-smoking groups and bankrolled supposedly grass-roots campaigns to battle cigarette smoking bans, critics of the industry said last week. The tobacco companies' tactics have been gradually unearthed from some 33 million pages of documents made public during Minnesota's lawsuit against the industry. Minnesota's lawsuit seeking compensation for taxpayer funds spent on treating ill smokers was settled earlier this year for more than $6billion. Representatives of anti-smoking groups that have been examining the documents met this week in St. Paul for a conference entitled, "No More Lies -- Truth and the Consequences for Tobacco."

India coffee sales low: Selective buying by domestic traders saw India's weekly coffee sales at almost the same low levels as last week, traders said last week. "Today's sale witnessed selective buying mainly from locals," the Indian Coffee Traders Association (ICTA) market report said. "Poor... coffees found no takers." Friday's auction posted 25.18 percent sales of the total 527.16 tonnes of coffee offered, against 23.84 percent of 723.36 tonnes last week. This week's auctions were held on Friday, against the scheduled Thursday, on account of a Hindu festival holiday. Robust as staged an impressive run with 42.54 percent sales of the offered 178.03 tonnes. Last week robust as had improved their sales over arabicas with 30.80 percent sales of the 270.58 tonnes of the variety offered. Arabica sales dippedon Friday with only 16.33 percent of the offered 349.13 tonnes being sold. Last week, arabica sales were marginally better with 19.66 percent sales of the offered 452.77 tonnes.

Rouble trouble leads to coffee availability: A stoppage in instant coffee exports to Russia, which is facing a financial crisis, has helped ensure availability of robust a coffee in the domestic market, industry officials said last week. In view of the stoppage of exports to Russia, adequate availability of coffee could be ensured in the domestic market, the officials said. "There is no need to import coffee as enough quantity is available due to the Russian problem," Coffee Futures Exchange of India (Cofei) chairman Ashwin Shah said. Indian coffee exporters and traders sought unrestricted robust a coffee imports from Indonesia last month saying only 12,000 tonnes were available till the year-end of the 1.3 lakh tonnes produced during the 1997-98 (October-September) crop year besides the 29,000 tonnes carry over stock fromthe 1996-97 crop year.

However, the Coffee Board turned down their demand saying enough coffee was available, even if one were to go by the industry's statistics.

Cardamom prices register sharp rise: Cardamon prices have registered a sharp rise during the current crop year (August 1998-July 1997) compared with the prices in the last crop year, on a strong all round demand for the commodity. While prices have registered a nearly 25 per cent rise compared to average prices last season, the quantity sold has almost doubled since the beginning of the season, reports from licensed cardamom auctioneers said. Mumbai auctions have continued to fetch higher prices, with average rice realisation for the 3020 kg sold during the October five auctions being Rs 474.73 a kg. Auctions at the traditional centres in south have also fetched better prices, though it has been low in karnataka centres of Saklaspur and Sirsi. In all 436 tonnes of cardamon has been sold since the season beginning, Against 233 tonnes soldduring the corresponding period last season. Average price realisation for the commodity for the season until now has been Rs 404.31 per kg against Rs 301.27 a kg in the corresponding period last year.

Indian spices to be sold in UK: Five Indian spices including kashmiri and guntur chillies will be available in over 200 stores in the United Kingdom from early next year. Wt Foods Plc in Bristol will sell the spices through one of UK's leading supermarket chains, sainsburys, spices board said in its weekly report. The spices, kashmiri chilli powder, kashmiri saffron, indori coriander (whole and ground) together with guntur and kashmiri chilli, have been added to the list of sainsburys, it said.

Asian coffee quiet: The Southeast Asia coffee market has not yet received a boost from recent world price gains, but traders said last week prices could rise if weather worries increased in the West. "The market is still slow. Beans (in Vietnam) are not very big and European houses seem to have enoughstocks," said one trader in Singapore. "So far I haven'T seen much impact from London and NewYork. Prices here are not rising," the trader said. Coffee prices have surged in London and New York amid fears Hurricane Mitch could hurt crops in Honduras and other parts of Central America. Mitch will probably bring heavy rainfall and gusty winds tocoffee-growing regions in Honduras, but will probably bear far enough North to prevent serious damage, US meteorologists said. "If the hurricane gets serious or overseas markets getreally excited, Vietnamese traders will raise prices. But the chance doesn't seem big," the Singapore trader said.

Weather, currency to support Asian rubber: South-east Asia's rubber market is likely to switch focus back to the weather and currencies after an International Natural Rubber Organisation (INRO) meeting failed to raise its intervention levels, traders said last week. Weather concerns and stronger Asian currencies would support rubber prices, but no improvement in demandwas in sight, they said. "The market's main problem is demand. Even if INRO raised its buying levels, there is still no demand. How much can INRO buy up the market?" asked a trader at a Japanese firm in Singapore. "The market focus will return to weather and currency. People will forget about INRO for a while," said the trader. INRO ended a two-day council meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Friday without a decision on higher market intervention levels to support rubber prices as producers had hoped.

INRO says no decision on new intervention levels: The International Natural Rubber Organisation (INRO) ended a two-day council meeting on Friday without a decision on new and higher market intervention levels to support rubber prices as hoped by producers. INRO chairman Rosediana Suharto of Indonesia told Reuters Malaysia confirmed that it is leaving the world rubber group effective October 15, 1999. The council also noted that Thailand would remain a member of INRO until further notice, she said. "There was apackage of proposals made at the meeting for early intervention by INRO as well for a higher reference price but no decision was reached," she said. "The members have to go back and sift through the proposals with their respective governments," she said. Suharto said Thailand, widely speculated before the meeting to force INRO into fixing a higher support price for rubber in the market, had also indicated that it would hold on with its demand for now.

Mitch rains cause damage to Honduras coffee: The Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFE) last week said 1998-99 crop losses "could be incredible" unless immediate efforts were made to repair roads in growing zones destroyed by Hurricane Mitch. IHCAFE general manager Fernando Montes said key roads in coffee growing areas had been damaged by the severe downpour from powerful Mitch, which by Tuesday had left at least 19 people killed after flooding coastal areas of Honduras. But Montes refused to estimate how much coffee could have been lost or otherwisedamaged by Mitch, saying industry officials currently were hindered from visiting growing zones to assess the situation because of flood-destroyed roads. "The road network and the roads which are in the coffee-growing zones have suffered due to the flooding and mudslides, and this makes access to and from the cultivated areas difficult," Montes told Reuters. "At the moment we cannot talk about specific losses in figures...(but) if we don't take appropriate measures, we could lose crops (in many plantations) and the losses could be incredible," he said.

Tyre makers to buy STC rubber: Indian tyre makers are likely to buy an additional 2,000 tonnes of natural rubber from the public sector State Trading Corporation (STC) against advance import license, industry sources said last week. This follows a request by the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association (ATMA) to tyre companies to buy additional rubber following a tri-partite meeting between ATMA, director-general of foreign trade (DGFT) and STC.However, the procurement of additional quantity would be left to individual tyre companies and depend on whether the firms have advance licenses, they said.

The tri-partite meeting was called to urge tyre-makers to lift more rubber from the STC, which had procured 9,6000 tonnes of the commodity as part of market intervention operations last year to lift its prices. Simultaneously, STC would also segregate the lots which are of poor quality or have been affected by moisture. The DGFT had also suggested the formation of a committee at the commerce ministry level to dispose of the inferior quality rubber.

Honduras coffee may escape damage: Honduras' coffee crop may escape damage from Hurricane Mitch, one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever recorded, because only a small part is grown in coastal areas, industry officials said last week. Though fears of crop damage from Mitch helped drive upfutures prices in brisk trade in New York, the Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFE) said only a small part camefrom areas preparing for sustained winds of up to 180 mph (290 kph). "There is no fear that this phenomenon will cause damage tothe coffee production in Honduras, the (key) coffee growing zones in Honduras are not in these regions where Mitch may come," IHCAFE spokesman Milton Mateo told Reuters.

Mateo said heavy rains and winds were not expected to damage the 1998/99 crop, which is just starting to be harvested. IHCAFE has forecast the 1998-99 crop season will produce some 3.0 million quintals (46-kg bags), down almost 15 percent from the record crop of 3.5 million quintals in the 1997-98 crop season.